Write-in votes: Jennifer Roberts for mayor?

Jennifer Roberts for mayor? Sure, say some voters.

The former Mecklenburg commissioners chair and congressional candidate received 18 write-in votes in the recent election for Charlotte mayor, according to  a report on the Nov. 5 election. That's the highest for any write-in candidate. (ICYMI: Democrat Patrick Cannon is the new mayor-elect.)

Jennifer Roberts

Others receiving a nod for mayor were interim Charlotte Mayor Patsy Kinsey, with 5 votes. City Councilman James Mitchell, a Democrat who lost in his party's primary to become mayor, got 7 votes.

Get the full list of write-in votes at http://bit.ly/17uwBVv

A couple things to note: While the board of election must keep a tally of all people who receive write-in votes, the list above only identifies people whose names were written at least five times on the ballot.

In addition to mayor, the list also includes write-in votes for Charlotte City Council, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education and town races on the November ballot.

So are any non-politicians on the list?

Well, Observer Deputy City Editor Doug Miller reports that NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. always does well, according to the elections board. But Dale Jr. is ineligible for office because he's not a city resident. -- April Bethea
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http:// bit.ly/17uwBVv

Susan Burgess statement on resignation

Charlotte Mayor Pro Tem Susan Burgess delivered the following remarks Monday as she announced her resignation from the city council.

Burgess, who underwent surgery in 2007 for colorectal cancer, announced last month her cancer had spread and she was undergoing hospice care. -- April Bethea

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Dear colleagues and the people of Charlotte:

With a great deal of personal sadness, I must resign my seat on the City Council of Charlotte, effective immediately. I am unable to fulfill the commitments of a City Council member because I can no longer attend meetings or perform other requirements of the job, and the people of Charlotte deserve an effective representative in this At-Large position.

I love my city and its people and it has been an honor for me to represent them. I treasure the support and encouragement that I have received from so many of the people of Charlotte.

To my colleagues on the Council, and the staff and employees of the City, it has been a pleasure serving with you.

God bless all of you, and God bless the City of Charlotte.

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Dear colleagues:

As I must resign my position on the City Council, I urge you to give strong consideration for my replacement to my son, Jason Burgess. He shares my values and ideals completely and I am confident that he will be able to serve in my place and be faithful to the principles that I have worked so hard to represent in my time in office.

By way of background, Jason moved to Charlotte with our family in 1982, attended Alexander Graham Junior High School and graduated from Myers Park Senior High School, where he was a student leader and an outstanding soccer and basketball player. In his senior year at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a pre-med major, he worked tirelessly to earn a spot as a walk-on for Dean Smith's varsity basketball team. After graduating from UNC-CH's School of Medicine and completing a surgery residency at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, NC, he completed a vascular surgery fellowship at Rush Presbyterian St. Lukes Medical Center in Chicago. With the beginning of his vascular surgery career, he returned with his family to Charlotte.

Jason embodies the qualifies that I have worked towards as a public servant. He is a bridge-builder: soon after he returned to Charlotte, he was elected chief of surgery at Mercy Hospital and since then he was instrumental at merging two separate surgical practices into the largest independent surgical group in the region. He is a natural leader and was recently named by the Charlotte Business Journal as one of the "40 under 40" emerging leaders. In 2009, he was named by Charlotte Magazine as one of Charlotte's Top Docs," because of his commitment to cutting edge medicine and his dedication to his patients. As his resume demonstrates, he is an extremely hard worker and has amazing drive.

Jason lives with his wife, Elizabeth, and family in the Dilworth neighborhood. He has the full support of his family and is confident that he can balance his professional, personal and civic life.

It is important to have my At-Large seat filled as soon as possible, with crucial decisions upcoming. I am certain that Jason is the best person to serve out my unexpired term on the Council, and to continue to stand for the values and ideals that the people elected me to represent at the beginning of this term.

Thank you very much for you consideration of Jason Burgess.

Sincerely,

Susan Burgess

New uptown signs baffle council members

Confused by the new color-coded signs going up along highways around uptown?

Some city council members are, too.

The signs are part of a $4.1 million "urban wayfinding system" designed to help direct visitors to the north, south, east and west quadrants of the city.

But two elected officials this week expressed doubts that the color-coded sytem would help tourists, when they themselves are unable to decode the system.

"I live here, and I wouldn't know what to do looking at the signs," said councilman Michael Barnes, a Democrat, during a Monday council meeting.

Said Republican Andy Dulin: "They might as well be written in Greek. They're clutter, in my opinion."

Their concerns were in the minority, and council approved change orders to move ahead with the project, which has been under way since 2006. Crews are removing old freeway signs and installing new ones on the approach to uptown from Independence Boulevard and interstates 77 and 277.

Jim Kimbler of the city's department of transportation said the sign system was designed first for how visitors might respond, in response to Barnes' view of them as a resident.

Kimbler said only about one-third of the signs are installed, and the system will work well once they are completely in place. The system is intended to help visitors find parking quickly, which will save idling time and fuel - and makes the program eligible for federal energy efficiency grant money.

Barnes suggested that compass-oriented labeling won't help drivers who don't know where they are on the compass as they pass by at high speeds.

"North of what? East of what? West of what?" he asked.

- Doug Miller

Captain Kangaroo for City Council?

Or Ric Flair? Here's the list of write-in votes from Tuesday's election.

Click here for a spreadsheet, by races across Mecklenburg County.

A quick snapshot, by categories:

• Fictional characters - Bugs Bunny (school board); Mickey Mouse (city council, Charlotte mayor, Matthews commissioner, school board); Alf (school board, Davidson mayor); Zorro (city council); Sponge Bob (city council).
• Athletes and coaches - Brad Hoover (school board); Steve Smith (city council); Larry Brown (city council, school board); John Fox (city council); Bobby Lutz (city council).
• Political statements - None of the above; U.S. Constitution; Someone who won't raise taxes.
• Only in Charlotte - Ric Flair (city council); No Streetcar; Crisspy Shabazz (aspiring local actor - various offices); Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Mint Hill mayor).

Trust us, there are many more.
- Doug Miller

Where was Pat today?

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory spent today talking trains - in Florida.

During the first mayoral election he's sitting out in 14 years, McCrory stumped for transit in the Tampa Bay area, according to a story in the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

Click here to read the story.

McCrory's appearance at the Regional Transportation Forum in Brandon was fitting. His signature civic project is arguably the Lynx Blue Line, the city's first light-rail line.

In a likely reference to the sometimes bruising political fights surrounding transit, McCrory says in order for a system to work, politicians from both sides will "have to give up a little bit of power."

McCrory also encouraged Florida leaders to move quickly on transit because he said it would create jobs to offset the state's high unemployment rate, the story said.

- Doug Miller

Report: Charlotte post offices could close

Five Mecklenburg County post offices are among 677 nationwide marked for possible closure or consolidation, the Washington Post reports.

The Charlotte offices under scrutiny:

CLT-30th St




CLT-Arrowood



CLT-Derita



CLT-Eastway Finance



CLT-Freedom



Click here for the full list.

The Post story quotes Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) expecting the steps to prompt public backlash.

“You better believe that if those post offices have to be closed I’m going to be besieged by people asking, ‘Please don’t close my post office,’” she said.

The story also cites postal and Congressional sources saying "privately that only about 200 of the 677 postal facilities are likely to be closed after a review," after the document was given today to a House subcommittee holding a hearing on the future of American mail delivery.

- Doug Miller

Clodfelter: 'Charlotte's an outlier'

That's why Charlotte Democrat Dan Clodfelter, co-chair of the Senate finance committee says his plan to change the state's tax rules would cut city collections so dramatically.

Businesses here pay license taxes totaling more than twice the amount collected by the next-biggest city, Raleigh.

“A Wal-Mart in Charlotte may pay a $10,000 tax. Wal-Mart in another city may pay a $50 tax,” he said. “You guys are so far out of the range of everybody else.”

State legislators are considering abolishing the local license fee as part of a group of tax changes tied to a particularly difficult budget.

Opponents of the business tax say it is confusing and levied many different ways across the state. They complain that it leads to double-taxation in some cases.

For most cities, the legislature's proposed tax changes wouldn't be painful, Clodfelter said. He said for those cities, the lost revenues would be offset by substitute taxes under consideration, including the expansion of the sales tax base.

But Charlotte is different.

How different?

Click here to read how much cities collected for business licenses.

The Department of Revenue data for 2006-07 shows Charlotte businesses paid $17,663,113.

Others in the seven-figure range:

Raleigh: $5,962,920

Greensboro: $3,267,431

Durham: $2,585,946

Winston-Salem: $2,308,525

Wilmington: $1,656,746

Cary: $1,463,554

Hickory: $1,110,078

Concord: $1,047,246

Asheville: $1,040,814

- Julia Oliver/Doug Miller